Rila’s TaleGuardians of the Moonlit Vines

Some mountains keep silence.
Rila keeps memory.

And it chooses who may find it.

Some go looking to protect it.
One means to own it.

Enter the story

42°07′56.6″N · 23°08′11.1″E

A story you read, sip, and follow in real life.

THE CALL

Some secrets
take root.

In a monastery library, Father Atanas finds words he cannot leave alone: “the vine from Driska.” The last monk who followed them never came back. Atanas breaks fifteen years of obedience and walks out the gate anyway — into the path of strangers who turn out to have been waiting for him, and an industrialist who has learned that everything sacred can be bought, broken, or built over.

Follow Atanas ↗

THE NOVEL

Enter the story.

Reading roomTurn the first page.Begin reading Listening roomHear the story unfold.Begin listening

Request a signed copy ↓

Rila’s Tale: Guardians of the Moonlit Vines — cover by Momtchil Dimitrov — A monastery. A mountain. A secret worth a thousand years of silence.
Real roads. Real people. Real history. And a drop or two of the impossible.For readers of The Alchemist and The Name of the Rose.

THE GROUND BENEATH THE STORY

The mountain is real.

Every road in this book is a road I walked.
Now walk it with me.

A mountain path beneath the peaks of Rila

Rila Monastery in its green mountain valley

See the real Rila ↗

The Art,
drawn from memory and real life.

Enter the gallery ↗

A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR

A story I carried with me.

I was born into stories of these mountains, whispered by grandparents who remembered every twist in the river and every echo of the monastery bells. My family has kept vines in these valleys for generations. I live across the world now, and it still calls to me. Some roots cannot be cut, no matter how far I wander.

Momtchil Dimitrov

More of my story ↗

THE FOUNDING READERS

Take the first watch.

A signed, numbered Founder's copy of the English edition, a crown-cross-vine bookmark, and a personal note from me. Fifty of them, for the readers who came before the book did.

An Evening with Rila’s Tale

The same collection, plus a gathering with me: a reading, a conversation, a Bulgarian table, and a guided tasting. I’ll announce dates and places once I know how many of you would like to join me.

Please leave your details and I’ll contact you when prices and dates are set.

Wherever you are, ask. I'll confirm delivery and cost before anything is paid.